


Thicker Than Dust

by Marimimi14



Series: Andrew and Neil Family's Adventures [3]
Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Adopted Children, Angst with a Happy Ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Foster Care, Future Fic, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, M/M, OC Kids - Freeform, OC characters, Past Child Abuse, Social Worker, all of the other characters are only mentionned, pro!Neil, pro!andrew
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-06
Updated: 2020-03-06
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23032945
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Marimimi14/pseuds/Marimimi14
Summary: Andrew and Neil have a meeting with the social worker appointed to their case. She must finally have good news for them. Right?
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Series: Andrew and Neil Family's Adventures [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654528
Comments: 9
Kudos: 192





	Thicker Than Dust

When the kids got a little more comfortable at home, it was finally time for Andrew and Neil to go back to their job. They had missed the first half of the season, but their coach told them to take all the time they needed. Everest and Juniper had been with them for a little over a month now. They hadn’t told any of their friends about them yet. They still wanted to keep things lowkey for a little while. The foxes weren’t known for being gentle. Neil had already a headache at the thought of Nicky’s reaction. No, they would tell them later, when they would both be ready for it.

Andrew didn’t tell, but Neil knew he was still stress about the situation. They had meetings with child services almost every two weeks to make sure that their house was a safe environment for Juniper and Everest. It was also to assess Neil and Andrew. To make sure they were fit to be their parents. At first, the social worker had been jumpy and nervous during their meetings. Neil almost rolled his eyes at that. They both knew what their past was and what was in their files. Also, Andrew looking apathetic most of the time didn’t help make the woman at ease. So yeah, they were a little stressed with the fact that the kids could be taken away from them if child services thought they weren’t good enough.

“When you’ll go back to work, how did you plan taking care of the children?” Amanda, the social worker asked them one evening during their meeting.

Their team just made a statement that Neil and Andrew would be back on court for their next game on Friday. Neil almost smirked at her question; they had prepared for it.

“Well, they can come to watch the games if they want. If not, they can both stay at home. Everest is old enough to take care of his sister for a few hours.” Neil answered.

They were sitting in their living room. Andrew next to Neil with his arms crossed over his chest. A mask of indifference on his face. Amanda clicked her pen a few times before noting something in her files.

“That makes sense for home games. What about away games?” She asked.

Andrew sighed before replying. “They could come with us. Games are always on a Friday anyway.”

“What if they don’t want to go with you?” Amanda asked with a gentle smile.

Neil snorted at that. He didn’t know if she hoped to trick them with the question. “We have a lot of people with trust in the area that could babysit them.” He said. Sure, they would have to tell their friends about Juniper and Everest, but Neil was sure none of the foxes would tell them no.

“These children went through a lot in the last year. They can’t stay with just anybody.” The social worker pointed.

Neil felt Andrew tensed beside him. Neil was also annoyed. As if they didn’t know. He was also pretty sure that any of their friends could handle Everest and Juniper. Yeah, even Aaron. Neil felt Andrew shifting next to him. He had leaned in his seat and stared at Amanda in the eyes.

“We know all about that. We spoke with them. Can you tell us want you really mean instead of beating around the bush?”

Amanda sat back in her chair. Like she was trying to keep more distance between herself and Andrew. Neil couldn’t help but think it was a smart move. Even if Andrew didn’t have his knives in his armbands, he could still make some damage if he decided to lunge at Amanda.

“The department isn’t sure you’re in the right place to correctly provide for the children. Mainly because your job and lifestyle aren’t typical.” Amanda finally said.

Neil felt like the words had hit him in the guts. His breath caught in his throat. Was it finally the last meeting? Had they reached the decision that they couldn’t keep them? Was Amanda here to take Everest and Juniper away from them? The adults were all in silence for a few moments and none had heard the door open and close a few minutes ago.

“What did you just say?” The three of them turned their head and saw Juniper and Everest waiting at the entrance of the living room. Everest had been the one to ask the question. 

“School is already over?” Amanda said giving her watch a quick look.

“I think Everest asked you a question.” Neil said his eyes on the kids who entered the room.

They made their way and stopped when they were standing next to the couch Neil and Andrew were sitting on. They were staring at Amanda, waiting for her to say something. Juniper’s smile had slipped from her face and she kept glancing at Neil and Andrew with worry.

Amanda stared back for a few seconds. She let out a slow breath before speaking.

“We think that maybe living here isn’t the best solution for you.” She said.

Everest's eyes harden at that and his stare shifted to a glare. He copied Andrew’s posture without realizing, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Juniper’s worried look grew into a mild panic. She was standing closer to Andrew. Andrew held her wrist gently to keep her from a full-blown panic attack. They hadn’t seen her that nervous since her first day.

“But you can’t!” She finally exclaimed. She turned to look at Andrew and Neil. “She can’t take us away, right?” She asked. Her voice was shaky.

Everest hadn’t said a word yet. Juniper grew even antsier even with Andrew’s touch. Neil caught Juniper’s eyes and he opened his arms. She sat on the couch between Neil and Andrew and snaked her arms around Neil’s waist. Neil closed his arm’s around her shoulders, patting her hair lightly.

“We clearly don’t want to go.” Everest said. “Unless they want us to leave.”

“Which we don’t.” Andrew stated. “Now, I’ll ask you to leave our house because you’re causing Juniper a great deal of distress.”

“It’s not a decision they can…” Amanda tried to argue as she got up from her chair.

“Try to take them away and we’ll see each other in court.” Andrew said with finality.

Amanda shuddered at Andrew’s tone. She picked up her briefcase and hurried out of the house.

The living room stayed silent for a few moments. Everest’s shoulders slumped as soon as the social worker was out of sigh. He also looked like he was calming his breath a little. Juniper hadn’t let go of Neil yet. They could hear soft sobs and sniffles.

“Is it because we’re bad kids?” She asked her voice muffled by Neil’s t-shirt. “We can be better I swear.” 

“It has nothing to do with you guys.” Neil said his hand never stopping in Juniper’s hair.

“Why then?” She asked. She dried her last tears with Neil’s shirt and lifted her head to be able to see everyone around her.

“Their main argument is our job.” Andrew said.

“That’s stupid.” Juniper muttered.

“Can we do anything?” Everest asked.

“For now, not really. But we were serious about taking it to court if we need to.” Andrew said.

Juniper looked at her brother. They both looked tired and a little defeated. Everest nodded at Andrew’s words. At least, they had people fighting for them this time.

“How about we order pizza for tonight?” Neil asked. He forced a smile. Mainly in a try to reassure Juniper.

The promise of pizza did put her in a better mood. By the time they were sitting at the dinner table, she was telling them all about her day at school. She wasn’t as enthusiastic as usual but hearing her still was better than nothing. Everest didn’t talk much. Being older he had a better understanding of what was going on and he couldn’t help but be worried. Once they were done with dinner Everest excused himself and said he had homework to do. Juniper followed him asking his help for her math homework.

Neil and Andrew went to the kitchen to put the dishes in the dishwasher.

“I’m calling our lawyer tomorrow.” Neil said.

Andrew hummed at that. He had the same thought, but it was a better idea if Neil was the one calling. “Maybe we could ask for a different social worker.” He said.

“You don’t like Amanda.” Neil stated. He threw his hands up in surrender at the glare Andrew sent him. “I mean fair enough she is annoying.”

“You talk like I don’t hate most people anyway. But yeah I particularly don’t like her.”

“Hey.” Neil said putting his hands on Andrew’s shoulders. He did it slowly enough that if Andrew had wanted, he could have escaped the touch. “They’ll be ok. I won’t let anyone take our kids away.”

Andrew’s body relaxed a little. Maybe because of Neil’s touch or maybe it was the words. He wasn’t sure. He didn’t comment on the fact that it was the first time one of them talked about the siblings as their kids.

“I know. Still frustrating.” Andrew said. He looked up at Neil and raised an eyebrow.

Neil nodded with a smile. Andrew wrapped his arms around Neil’s neck and angled his face down so he could kiss him. The kiss was lazy and slow. Since the kids had started living with them, they hadn’t had much time alone. They took every opportunity they could get.

“We could talk to Renee. Maybe her mother could have some advice for us.” Neil said when they broke the kiss.

“Yeah. I’ll call her tomorrow.” Andrew said.

Once again, none of them acknowledged the fact that they would tell one of their friends about the kids. Starting with Renee was probably the safest bet. She wouldn’t ask many questions and would do everything she could to help them.

“We’ll be fine.” Neil said after a moment of silence.

He wasn’t just saying that. He would fight with everything he had in him to keep his kids. He knew Andrew shared his opinions. There was no way anyone would take Juniper and Everest away from them. Not now. Not ever.

**Author's Note:**

> Another work in the series. It was a little angstier than what I had planned in the beginning but I like how it turned out. We'll have other one-shots that aren't as sad and angry in the future don't worry. Thanks for reading guys :)


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